Annotating Content With Context Metadata

1. A method comprising: obtaining by an apparatus a first list of context metadata items for a content item where the context metadata items comprises information relating to devices which were nearby the apparatus when the content item was created; obtaining a second list of context metadata items, wherein the second list comprises a plurality, but not all, of the metadata items of the first list and comprises information relating to at least one device which was nearby the apparatus when the content item was created; and annotating the content item with the second list comprising information relating to at least one device which was nearby the apparatus when the content item was created by creating an association between each of the metadata items of the second list and the content item, wherein obtaining the second list of context metadata items from the first list comprises processing the first list to improve the meaningfulness of the metadata items, wherein the processing comprises the addition of metadata that is dependent upon previously stored metadata, the additional metadata comprising a score, wherein the score for a metadata item that has been received from a device depends upon a local environment of that device.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the additional metadata comprises user meaningful information based on data obtained from a personal database.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising: displaying the first list; highlighting some metadata items in the first list compared to other metadata items in the first list; and enabling user selection of at least some metadata items from the first list for use in the second list.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein highlighting may be achieved by using visible scores for metadata items.

5. The method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein highlighting may be achieved by prioritizing the metadata items according to a score.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein processing automatically selects at least some metadata items from the first list for use in the second list.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6 , wherein metadata items in the first list are scored and the scores are used as a selection criterion.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein obtaining the second list of context metadata items from the first list involves scoring of the metadata items of the first list.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a score for a metadata item depends upon a history of the use of that metadata item for annotating content items.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the score for a metadata item depends on the number of times that metadata item has previously been used for annotating content items.

11. The method as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the score for a metadata item depends on how recently that metadata item has been used for annotating content items.

12. A method as claimed in claim 9 , wherein determining a score for a metadata item comprises accessing a plurality of previously stored lists of metadata items and identifying those previously stored lists of metadata items in which that metadata item occurs.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the score for a metadata item that has been received from the device depends upon the score that device has for a metadata item corresponding to another device.

14. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the second list may comprise metadata items not present in the first list.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium having a computer program stored thereon for performing the method of claim 1 when executed on a processor.

16. A tangible physical entity embodying a computer program for carrying out the method as claimed in claim 1 .

17. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the nearby devices were within a distance covered by short range communication when the content item was created.

18. The method as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the short range communication is Bluetooth, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), or Ultra Wide Band (UWB).

19. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein obtaining the first list comprises receiving one or more identifiers transmitted by local radio devices.

20. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the information relating to devices which were nearby the apparatus when the content item was created comprises the position of the nearby devices and/or distance from the apparatus to the nearby devices.

21. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the second list of context metadata items comprises a sub-set of the first list of context meta-data items and includes those metadata items in the first list of context metadata items that are meaningful.

22. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a metadata item is automatically added to the second list if the score for the metadata item exceeds a threshold value.

23. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the score for a device identifier is dependent upon a distance and/or direction of the device represented by the device identifier relative to the apparatus when the content item is created.

24. A method as claimed in claim 1 , comprising performing an augmentation process on the second list of context metadata items.

25. An electronic device comprising: a processor; and a memory comprising computer program code; the memory and the computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the electronic device at least to perform: obtaining a first list of context metadata items for a content item where the context metadata items comprise information relating to devices which were nearby the electronic device when the content item was created; obtaining a second list of context metadata items, wherein the second list comprises a plurality, but not all, of the metadata items of the first list and comprises information relating to at least one device which was nearby the electronic device when the content item was created; and annotating the content item with the second list comprising information relating to at least one device which was nearby the electronic device when the content item was created by creating an association between each of the metadata items of the second list and the content item, wherein obtaining the second list of context metadata items from the first list comprises processing the first list to improve the meaningfulness of the metadata items, wherein the processing comprises the addition of metadata that is dependent upon previously stored metadata, the additional metadata comprising a score, wherein the score for a metadata item that has been received from a device depends upon a local environment of that device.

26. The electronic device as claimed in claim 25 , wherein the device is hand-portable.

27. A non-transitory computer readable medium having a computer program stored thereon for annotating content items with context metadata where the context metadata comprises information relating to devices which were nearby an apparatus when the content item was created, said program comprising computer program instructions which when loaded into a processor enable the processor to cause the apparatus to: obtain a second list of context metadata items, wherein the second list comprises a plurality, but not all, of the metadata items of a first list and comprises information relating to at least one device which was nearby the apparatus when the content item was created; and annotate the content item with the second list comprising information relating to at least one device which was nearby the electronic device when the content item was created by creating an association between each of the metadata items of the second list and the content item, wherein obtaining the second list of context metadata items from the first list comprises processing the first list to improve the meaningfulness of the metadata items, wherein the processing comprises the addition of metadata that is dependent upon previously stored metadata, the additional metadata comprising a score, wherein the score for a metadata item that has been received from a device depends upon a local environment of that device.

28. The non-transitory computer readable medium as claimed in claim 27 , wherein the additional metadata comprises user meaningful information based on data obtained from a personal database.

29. The non-transitory computer readable medium as claimed in claim 27 , further comprising computer program instructions for: displaying the first list; highlighting some metadata items in the first list compared to other metadata items in the first list; and enabling user selection of at least some metadata items from the first list for use in the second list.

30. The non-transitory computer readable medium as claimed in claim 27 further comprising computer program instructions for automatically selecting at least some metadata items from the first list for use in the second list.

31. A method comprising: obtaining by an apparatus a first list of context metadata items for a content item where the context metadata items comprises information relating to devices which were nearby the apparatus when the content item was created, the information comprising the position of the nearby devices and/or distance from the apparatus to the nearby devices; obtaining a second list of context metadata items, wherein the second list comprises a plurality, but not all, of the metadata items of the first list and comprises information relating to at least one device which was nearby the apparatus when the content item was created; and annotating the content item with the second list comprising information relating to at least one device which was nearby the apparatus when the content item was created by creating an association between each of the metadata items of the second list and the content item, wherein obtaining the second list of context metadata items from the first list comprises processing the first list to improve the meaningfulness of the metadata items, wherein the processing comprises the addition of metadata that is dependent upon previously stored metadata comprising a score, wherein the score for a metadata item that has been received from a device depends upon a local environment of that device.